Save the date
by OTHfan77
Summary: Haley James is a saint and Nathan Scott is a self proclaimed bad boy. Their worlds collide in an unexpected way and everything changes. Please Review.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first ever fanfiction. Please let me know what you think.

Prologue

Today was the day. The day Haley James was going to get engaged. She couldn't believe it and yet, she knew. She knew the moment that Chris told her he had something very important to talk to her about. She knew because 6 years of dating equaled marriage. Right away she called her best friend Peyton Sawyer and they spent hours and hours talking and planning early wedding details. Haley was totally enthused.

Haley and Chris had started dating their sophomore year of university, they were both 19, they met in the same vocal class. Both of them loved singing and music and used university to explore it. They both decided not to explore their music careers further and ventured into careers that would be more practical. For Haley it was English, a much as she loved her music, and she did, teaching was her passion so she got her degree and became a high school English teacher. In high school she loved tutoring and knew that as much as she loved music, nothing could replace that feeling of teaching someone and watching them slowly understand. Chris on the other hand was pressured into perusing business. His parents Jack and Judy Keller were high up in media advertising and wanted Chris to take over the family company one day. Chris of course wanted nothing to do with it but obliged.

Haley spent all day preparing dinner for their romantic night, right down to making Chris's favorite meal; pot roast with mashed potatoes. She even got the recipe from his mom. She and Peyton went shopping so Haley could pick out the perfect dress. It was a little black dress that was sexy but modest. She had her hair in loose blonde waves that fell just below her shoulders. She had only a little makeup on just enough to make her deep brown eyes pop. She felt great. _Tonight, I'll be engaged_ she thought to herself feeling a little giddy.

She sat down with her glass of wine. Chris should be there any minute. It was five to seven and he would be there at seven. Haley got lost in her thoughts about their first date, he took her to this little coffee house where he performed a song he wrote and dedicated to her. It was called lost without you. She was brought out of her thoughts when the timer for the oven went off. Haley jumped and ran to the kitchen, she checked the time it was 7:20. He was late. Haley sighed and picked up her phone to call him. Voicemail. Weird. She would give him 10 more minutes before she started worrying.

Half an hour later Chris walked in with a huge grin on his face. "Hey baby" he said as he kissed her cheek. She just stared at him. He noticed her stare and frowned, "What's wrong" he asked with concern.

"You're late Chris. I was expecting you almost an hour ago" she said impatiently. He frowned.

"I'm sorry Haley, I got tied up with the guys at the office." He said apologetically. She just smiled, determined to turn this night around she waved it off.

"Well, why don't we eat, I made your favorite" they sat down and Haley poured him a glass of wine. They ate with just small chat about their day. After they were finished dinner and everything was all cleared, she pulled out the chocolate cake she make and cut each of them a piece. They went and sat down in her living room. "So," Haley said, "You said you had some big news"

Chris smiled at her, "Yeah, okay Hales. We've been dating for a long time Hales and I feel as though it's time-" He was cut off by her over eager response, "I feel like it's time we take things to the next level too"

Chris frowned, "That's not exactly what I was going to say"

"W-what?" She stuttered.

He grabbed her hands, "What, I was trying to say Hales, was that I finally have my chance"

"Your chance?" she asked more confused than ever, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Yeah, there is this music agency that listened to my demo and they loved me. They want me to record and go on tour… and I feel like I need to do this alone. I'm sorry Hales. You know that I love you."

Haley nodded, and she did know. She knew that he loved her but she also knew he loved his music more. "I thought you were going to propose…" She said tears now falling down her cheeks.

"Oh" Chris responded trying to pull her into a hug but Haley resisted it. "I think you should go Chris"

"Come on Haley, I think we should be adults about this" He said with condescension in his voice.

Haley rolled her eyes, "Chris, you need to leave. Now. Before I say anything I'll regret" That was Haley in a nutshell. She was calm. And rational. Before she responded she thought things through. This situation would be no different.

"Maybe we can still be friends?" He asked, hopeful. Haley shook her head at the nerve of him her shock of the night's events starting to wear off. Now she was angry. At him. At herself.

"No Chris, we can't be friends. I hope you find everything you are looking for." And that she pushed him out the door and grabbed her bag and headed over to her best friend's house.

23

"Nathan Scott for the three pointer and the win…" It was the final game of the season, and also Nathans last ever game in the NBA. He had to win it for his team. For his coach and for himself. The suspense was killing everyone in the crowd, the ball seemed to approach the hoop in slow motion. It circled the rim very slowly or six times before it finally went in. "And it's good!" the announcer roared.

Before Nathan could react his teammates circled around him and picked him up and carried him around the court. After they had calmed down a little they set Nathan down and he let it sink in. He had won his last ever NBA game. Retirement he thought. He was the best player in the league. And as sports illustrated stated, maybe of all time. Retirement came a little earlier than he would have liked but he still got 8 good years in the NBA. He had more money than he could ever dream between his trust fund and his money from playing basketball. It's too bad that his back only had a few years left. He decided to quit and work at his father's company just like his family had always planned.

His father, Dan Scott always had a plan for Nathan. He would go to Duke, play professional ball and then work at the family company and one day take over. It was Dan Scott's dream for his son. Well both of them but Nathan's brother Lucas decided to follow his own dream and pursue literature. Now Lucas is a bestselling author of two books.

His thoughts were interrupted when his little sister Brooke ran up to him.

Brooke Scott was a fashion designer, she started her own company called clothes over bros, and it was now one of the biggest clothing companies in the world. "Congrats big brother!" she hugged him.

"Thanks Brooke" He smiled at her. "Where are the rest of them?" he said referring to his mother, father, Lucas and Lilly.

"Oh Dad got stopped by the press and of course he had to take the opportunity to brag about you as well as promote the company" Brooke said with a hint of bitterness in her voice. Brooke was a bit of a black sheep in the family. Nathan was the beloved basketball player who carried out their fathers dreams, Lucas was the saint and Lily was the baby of the family at only 15 years old. Brooke on the other hand went out and did exactly what she wanted and made no apologies for her actions. That made her the troubled child, the black sheep.

"So since you're now retired does that mean you're going to retire you bad boy ways?" Brooke asked half serious, half teasing.

"You mean and deprive the ladies of all this" He said motioning to himself. "I would never"

Brooke rolled her eyes and gagged. "Gross Nate"

"Yeah I second that" Said Lucas coming up behind them with Lilly Nate turned around and punched Luke in the arm.

"Retirement will be good…..I hope" Nathan said not completely sure but trying to believe it.

"It will be son" Dan Scott said coming up behind him, "I promise"

"Yeah…" Nathan said not so sure.

_Please let me know if you think I should continue this story. _


	2. Chapter 2

_**Thanks for the reviews and the follows guys it means a lot! Just to let you know Haley, Peyton and Brooke are all 25. Nathan and Lucas are 29 just so you guys aren't confused about the ages or anything. The chapters a little long but I hope you guys enjoy!**_

**_Chapter 1 _**

_1 month later_

"Okay class, now I want to present you with a very special opportunity" Haley James smiled at her 10th grade homeroom class. She loved her class. She had had them for about a year and a half and they turned out to be quite delightful.

"As you know Tree Hill High is having a special charity event in about a month. It's a gala that's going to be hosted for our paents and families. We will organize everything ourselves, and all the proceeds will go to a charity of the schools choice. There will be five charities and each student will individually get to vote for the one they feel deserves the money that will be revealed the night of the gala. And the money we raise leading up to the gala and during the gala will be donated to the charity that wins...Now I am the head person in charge of the gala so I was hoping that you guys could help me out a little bit." Haley took a deep breath and looked around at her class. Some eyes she saw showed interest and some were completely bored out of their mind. Haley smiled "Now my point is, I would love help with organizing this, so we will be working in class once or twice a week to prepare for the gala and also you can sign up to help me after class. The preparation and work we do in class will count for a portion of your grade as unconventional as that may sound….but I feel that it is only fair. Any out of class time you want to contribute will not be graded but will count as volunteer hours that you will need before you graduate." She smiled at her class.

"Now, are there any questions?" She looked around, she wasn't expecting any questions but just as she was about to let them go back to their homework one hand in the middle of the class went up. Haley smiled when she noticed it was Lily Scott an adorable brunette with stunning blue eyes and a shining smile and one of her favorite students. "Yes Lily" She said.

The young girl spoke, "Oh, well I was just wondering what charities we were voting for" She asked.

"Yes... well we have some really awesome ones, they are listed on the handout that you guys picked up on your way in but I can go over them as well." She smiled at her class. "So we have the Animal Shelter, World vision, the Cancer Society, Red Cross and the local Woman's Shelter for single mothers." She didn't mention that the local charity was one that she volunteered for and helped run and that it was very near and dear to her heart. She didn't want them to vote for her charity just because it was one she was involved in. Before she could say anymore the bell rang signaling for her students to head on to their next class. She motioned that it was okay for them to go. She stood up and walked around and sat on the chair behind her desk as her class exited the room.. All but one. "Lily" she smiled at the young girl that approached her desk.

"Um, Miss James… I wanna help out with the gala.." Lily said to her teacher, she took her education very seriously and knew she needed those volunteer hours and the fact that she would get to work with Miss James was pretty awesome as well. "I was just wondering where I should help out, like which area would I be needed"

"Oh Lily… thats awesome" Haley smiled. Truth is she kind of knew that Lily would want to volunteer with this, she saw Lily kind of like a younger version of herself. It seemed right up the young girls ally. "Well Lily, I have a very special job for you… That is if you want it...It's my personal assistant. So you don't have a specific area just kinda go wherever you're needed. That is if you're interested" She saw the young girls smile widen.

"Yeah that would be awesome… thanks Miss James" Lily said.

"No problem Lily. I'll give you more details tomorrow in homeroom, just make sure to ask your parents to make sure they're okay with it. You better get to your next class." Haley handed her a signed note explaining why the girl was late for her class for her next teacher.

"Honey I'm home" she called out to her best friend Peyton as she entered her best friends apartment with pizza and beer. It was friday night and just like every friday for the past four weeks they were having a girls night. It was part of Haley's healing process.

"Did you bring me my food woman!" Peyton joked as Haley entered the kitchen. Haley laughed as she set the pizza and beer down. "And beer. How was work today?" Haley asked her best friend after she sat down on one of the chairs at the island.

"Work was.. work. If I didn't love my damn job so much I would quit cause I can't stand the people" Peyton worked at this huge multi million dollar record label. She had been successfully working her way up to being an actual producer that had a say in things. She started at the bottom as the assistant to the assistant and worked her way up to where she was now, Junior producer. Which meant she was the producers bitch but she had no complaints since she started out as the assistant to the assistant.

"Oh come on Peyt, you have to have more to say than that." Haley pressed. Peyton smiled uncomfortably. Haley was right. There was more but Peyton didn't know how to say "so it turns out your asshole of an ex is recording at my studio" She knew how hard the breakup had been on Haley even if Haley hadn't admitted it herself yet. She knew the next day when she showed up at Haley's apartment ready to congratulate her best friend saw Haley viciously organizing her apartment with bloodshot eyes. Haley had calmly and rationally told her what had happened like it was no big deal. But Peyton knew the truth; she knew that it was a big fucking deal. They had been together for 6 years. Haley had thought he was going to propose and as much as she tried to play off her pain Peyton knew she was hurting. That's why Haley had been keeping herself so busy at work. Haley knew it and even though she refused to talk about it with her so did Peyton. To say that Peyton felt like shit about keeping this whole Chris recording thing a secret from Haley was an understatement.

"Actually. I do have news" Peyton said smiling at Haley. Haley looked at Peyton and signaled for her to go on. When she didn't Haley just rolled her eyes. "Well...get on with it woman."

"Our very dear friend and my beloved half sister Rachel Gatina is coming for a little visit" Peyton smiled knowing that would cheer her best friend up a bit. Even though they were as different as day and night the three girls had been inseparable since high school. Then when they were 18, Peyton's father and Rachel's mother married making the girls stuck with each other for life. Not that either of them minded.

Haley stood up and hugged Peyton, "Get out! When?" She started to look for her cell phone in her purse so she could text her friend and scold her for not telling her sooner.

"Tomorrow morning" Peyton grinned at her friend as she took a sip of her beer.

23

"Okay son, you know I want you to take over the business one day soon" Dan Scott said to his son friday night before dinner. It was a family tradition. Every friday night all four Scott children went to their parents house for a family dinner with the exception of when they were out of town or in college. It wasn't a huge deal in Lily's case seeing as she still lived at home but the three eldest had moved out of the house and at times moved out of the city. Like Brooke, whose company was mostly located in New York. "There is just one problem son"

"And what would that be Dad" Nathan asked as he rolled his eyes at his father. Dan Scott was not a horrible man but he placed a lot of pressure on his children, especially Nathan.

"Your reputation Nathan, it is out of control and quite frankly not something that makes investors comfortable" Dan said as he pulled out newspapers and magazines with Nathans face on them.

"Now, I don't care what the hell you do or who you sleep with but what I do care about is my company and you running it, so before I can put you in charge we have to work on this. Your years of being a careless boy are over. It's time to grow up and learn some responsibility or at least learn how to keep your personal life under wraps" Dan Scott winked at his son.

"Okay Dad" Nathan nodded. It was times like these where he felt like his father wished Lucas wanted to be in the investment company. Lucas was the golden son. The perfect one who could do no wrong. Lucas was a practically a saint.

"Now lets get to the living room before you mom comes in and scolds me for office talk after hours" And with that the two men made their way into the living room where the rest of the rest of the family was sitting.

"Now now…. Office talk on friday night" Karen Scott chided her husband as she pecked him on the cheek. "What did I tell you about that"

"I know hun, it wont happen again… I promise"

"Yeah yeah" Karen laughed at her husband "Dinner is almost ready so we can get seated at the table" With that the group made their way into the dining room. The girls sat on one side of the table the boys on the other and Dan and Karen at the heads.

"So.. what were you guys doing in there" Brooke asked her father and brother as her mother and Lily went into the kitchen to get the food.

"Oh… Just stuff with the company Brooke." Her father said.

"Ah… telling him he needs to stop whoring around, right dad?" And with that Nathan punched Lucas' arm.

"Hey! What was that for?" Lucas exclaimed, "Brooke said it not me." Brooke laughed at her brothers. Even at 29 they still acted like they were 14.

"Yes but she is a girl and I can't very well hit a girl now can I…. Plus you were closer" Nathan stuck his tongue out at Lucas.

"Whatever" Lucas said good heartedly as Brooke laughed, Dan rolled his eyes.

"Thats enough boys." Dan said as Lily and Karen sat down.

"Jake's coming to Tree Hill sometime this week for a while" Nathan told his family. Jake Jagelski was Nathans best friend and agent….well former agent. They had known each other since they were 9. Nathan hadn't seen Jake in a month, since his last game which Jake was at.

"Oh really! For how long!" Brooke asked excitedly. She loved Jake. When they were kids Jake would always make a point to include her and be nice to her. He was actually her first crush….among other things. But that was all in the past.

"I'm not sure but he said he was staying for a while" Nathan grinned.

"Oh cool! Do you think he'll be around in a month" Lily asked. Her mind was on the gala. Which she knew she had to talk to her parents about. She actually planned to talk to her whole family tonight. She thought now would be the perfect chance.

"Probably. Why Lil?" Nathan asked.

Lily smiled, "Well, it's kind of a long story… but this year our school is hosting this really awesome charity gala thing. Like how last year they did that student concert or-" She was cut off by Brooke.

"Or how when I was a freshman they did a boy toy auction" She smirked at her brothers as she said it as they were the ones being auctioned off.

"Uh… yeah" Lily said not sure what to make of her older sisters tone. As much as they loved her and she knew they did her older siblings didn't exactly share that much with her it was the product of being at least ten years younger than each of them. "Well this year they are putting on this gala thing. The students are gonna host it along with the teachers so each homeroom and department are in charge of something different. Including entertainment and food and drinks and so on" She said in a rush.

"Okay Lil slow down… what are you getting at?" Dan asked his youngest child.

"Okay well… I volunteered to help out and Miss James who is actually running ev-" She was cut off again by Lucas.

"Who's Miss James?" He asked.

"Her homeroom teacher" Nathan answered for Lily.

"ANYWAY." Lily said starting to get a little bit frustrated "Miss James said I could be like her personal assistant if it was cool with you guys. That way I'll get all my volunteer hours and won't have to worry about it at all" She said motioning to her Mom and Dad.

"Ugh, I remember doing volunteer work in school… I had to work with like sick people" Brooke groaned.

"Better than garbage duty" Brooke stuck her tongue out at Lucas.

"So can I?" Lily looked at her parents.

"That would be fine with us sweetie" Karen said looking at Dan making sure he was okay with it.

"Yeah. That's fine with me" Dan said.

"Really?" Lily said squealing with excitement.

"I don't see why not." Dan said and karen nodded along with him.

"Yay! thank you thank you thank you" She said as she got up and hugged both her parents. "But there is more" She said. "I know mom and dad are coming for sure but it would mean a lot to me if you all would attend. It is on February 14th…Valentines day... and if Jake is going to be here I would like him to come too!" Lily said in anticipation. Nathan took out his phone to look at his calendar.

"All clear Lil. I'll be there. I'll make sure Jake comes too" He winked at his baby sister. He couldn't deny her anything.

Brooke smiled her dimpled smile at Lily. She didn't even need to look at her calendar if she had to she would clear her schedule, if Lily wanted her there she would be there. "Of course I'll come Lil."

"Count me in as well" Lucas said right after Brooke.

Lily smiled at her family, they were crazy and annoying but she was thankful that they were indeed her family.

_**Please review! 3**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Okay guys, here's my next chapter! Please review, they mean the world to me!**_

_Chapter 2_

"God, why did Rachel have to get an early landing flight?" Peyton groaned at 6 am the next morning when she and Haley were waiting for Rachel. "Ugggh, why did we have to drink so much."

Peyton and Haley had been up until 2 in the morning drinking, talking and watching chick flicks. Haley couldn't remember the last time she laughed so hard. She knew she wasn't being herself for the past month and she knew that Peyton wanted her to talk about her breakup with Chris...she just didn't know what to say. Whenever she thought about how her boyfriend of 6 years dumped her. For music. On the night she thought he was going to propose, whenever she thought about it she didn't know if she should laugh or cry.

Haley was snapped out of her thoughts by the piercing sound of Rachel Gatinas voice. "Get off your ass you skinny bitch and give me a hug" With that Haley hopped up and gave her friend a hug. "Rach, I missed you"

"Well duh" she winked, "I missed you too babe….Now should we wake sleeping beauty or what?" She said looking at a snoring Peyton passed out on the bench.

"Um we could try… But you know when she's out she's out." Haley responded.

"Lets see…" Rachel scanned the airport for anyone who could help them out "Maybe that blonde guy over there can help us out...The one beside the petite brunette?" Haley rolled her eyes at Rachel as she looked over at the two some things never change she thought.

"Okay… well why don't you go get him?" Haley said.

"Um… I'd rather not. I just had a long flight and I'm tired,, would you mind doing it Hales?" Rachel asked.

Haley sighed, "The things I do for the two of you" She made her way over to the the blonde and the brunette scolding herself and cursing her friends. She wasn't like this but Peyton really was a bitch to wake up. She was also hung over. _Poor thing _Haley thought. When she approached them she tapped the blonde on the shoulder. He kind of jumped and turned around along with the gorgeous girl.

"Hi" Haley said.

"Hi?" The blonde responded, confusion laced on his features.

"Okay… so this is going to sound completely unconventional and weird but my best friend Peyton and I are here to pick up our other friend Rachel" she said motioning to the two girls on the bench "Except Peyton fell asleep… and we were wondering if you could maybe carry her out to my car. We were going to wake her but she really is a pain to wake up plus she's grumpy in the morning and on top of that hungover... It's totally cool if you say no but Rachel made me come ask cause it was either you or old man sam over there an-" She was cut off by the brunette girl and blonde guy's laughter.

"Okay totally not what I was expecting..." He said through laughs "But of course I can help you out" He said laughing more. He looked over at the brunette "Brooke, you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, Nate will be back soon" The girl, Brooke, said.

"Okay" He said and then started walking away with Haley, "I'm Lucas" he introduced himself.

"Haley" She responded as they approached Rachel and a still sleeping Peyton. "Here they are, Rachel, this is Lucas and Lucas this is our very own sleeping beauty aka Peyton"

"Nice to meet you Rachel." He said as he picked up Peyton from the bench. Peyton's arms automatically wrapped around him as he picked up the blonde beauty as if she weighed nothing.

"Thanks for doing this" Haley said again.

"Hey.. Where'd Luke go" Nathan asked as he approached his baby sister.

"Oh, the funniest thing happened. This really adorable blonde girl came up ask asked him if he would carry her sleeping friend to her car. She tapped him on the shoulder all nervous like and he was like 'what the hell' and then she explained and she was so embarrassed it was so cute" Brooke gushed about the girl.

"Did you ask her out? Since you're obviously so in love with her" Nathan joked, He knew how his sister got when she was trying to set her brothers… well Lucas up, he loved to tease her about it. Brooke punched his arm as hard as she could.

"I meant for Luke dumbass" Nathan laughed.

"Whatever you say" Nathan said as Lucas walked up.

"So did you get the cute girls number?" Brooke was practically jumping up and down as asked her brother.

"Whose number? Haleys?" He asked confused, Haley did not give out the vibe that she was interested Lucas was pretty good at reading girls and he didn't feel like Haley was into him at all. Her friend Rachel on the other hand did.

"Yeah the one that came up to us. Luke she was so cute. You should have asked her out"

"Well, if you love her so much maybe you should ask her out" Lucas teased his sister. Brooke just punched his arm.

"You two suck" She said sticking her tongue out at her brothers.

"Now now Brooke, be nice. That's no way to talk to your brothers" She heard a familiar voice say behind her, she turned around and Jake was standing right there.

"Jake!" She exclaimed as she automatically jumped into his arms. _Man he looks good_ she thought.

"Hi to you too Brooke… I missed you too" He smiled down at her. Brooke Scott. The girl he had loved since he was a senior in high school. She had no idea the effect she had on him which made him love her even more. He also knew he could never ever go there. She was his best friends sister. It just wasn't an option.

"Jake man we missed you." Nathan said as he gave his best friend a guy hug. "My mom will have breakfast made for you for when we get home"

"Sweet, I get to come home to mama Scotts cooking." Jake laughed as they all walked out towards Nathans truck.

23

"What the hell guys?" Peyton said as she stormed into Haley's apartment like a bat out of hell.

"Okay… Peyt calm down...let me explain" Haley said calmly as she set out a plate of pancakes for Peyton.

"Explain? EXPLAIN? Explain how I woke up in the back seat of your car in the parking garage at 10:30 in the morning...And don't think that just because you made my favorite Haley James that you're forgiven" Peyton said taking a bite of her cinnamon chocolate chip pancakes. They were her favorite and no one made them quite like her best friend.

"Oh take a chill pill you skinny little whore" Rachel said exiting the bathroom in her bathrobe. "You fell asleep at the airport so this really hot guy carried you out to Haley's car and when we got here we tried to wake you but you wouldn't move and it was like 6:30 in the morning. I wanted to just leave you there but Haley being her ever so kind self, went and got you pillows and blankets to make sure you were somewhat comfortable when you woke up. Thanks for the warm greeting by the way."

"Oh well…. thanks…. I think" Peyton said taking another bite of pancakes. "Maybe I overreacted just a little."

"It's okay honey. I'd be pretty pissed off too" Haley said.

"Enough with this sappy shit. I wanna talk about ass hat" Rachel said and Haley groaned.

"There isn't much to say"

"Yes there is Hales. Please just talk to us."

"I honestly don't know what to say. I'm heartbroken. I'm heartbroken but relieved. I realised that I would always come second to music. Always. But at the same time I loved him. I gave him six years. The night we broke up I thought he was going to propose for goodness sakes. I don't know if I should laugh or if I should cry" Haley said with tears in her eyes. "That's all I can say really"

"Hales...I have a question… If he came back today and asked you to take him back would you?"

"I don't know. That's the thing about love, you can't control it and I love him. Dammit. I don't know. I wish I could just say no, that I would never take him back in million years but I can't"

"Awe, Hales. It'll be okay. Please just don't close yourself off from me...from us" Peyton said, grabbing Haley's hand.

"I know… and I am really sorry I worried you… I know thats why you called in the big guns" She said while winking at Rachel.

"Hey I did not come here because of your break up with Keller." Rachel said in mock offense. "I came here because I couldn't bear to be away from the love of my life anymore" She said while holding up Haley's childhood bear Mr. Waffles.

"Hey! Where did you get that?" Knowing full well that Rachel got him from under her pillows on her bed. Even at 25 she still slept with a ratty old bear. "Plus I am NOT going to let you corrupt my childhood bear"

"Oh you think you're so funny don't you?" Rachel said picking up a pillow and throwing it at her.


	4. Chapter 4

**_You guys are so awesome! Thanks for the follows and favorites and reviews! It means a lot to me. Here is another chapter and I hope you enjoy!_**

_Chapter 3_

"So Jegalski, how'd I get so lucky to get you for a whole day." Brooke asked Jake while she sat on her parents couch, she put her feet on his legs as she rested her back against the arm of the couch.

"Well, you can thank Nathan and his terrible reputation for that one, he and your dad are in your fathers office right now doing recon on how to clean up his act." He said while tickling her feet a little he knew how much she loved it even though she pretended to hate it.

She laughed a little and slapped his hand away from her feet. He knew she was a little bit ticklish, "What? They gonna invent a time machine? Change him at birth?" Nathan walked up right as she said that.

"Ha. ha. Little sister. You're funny" Nathan said sarcastically as he lightly swatted the back of her head.

"Why thank you for noticing Nate" she said with a cheeky smile.

"Mom wants you to pick up Lil from school today. She asked me to tell you" He told her.

"What time?" Brooke asked.

He answered "4:30" before turning around and heading back to his father's den.

"Okay, so the day is still young. What shall we do today Scott?" Jake asked her as he stood up and held out his hand for her to take. "Please tell me something totally wild and on the edge. None of this stay at home and stay safe stuff"

"Hm, rob a bank?" She said with excitement.

"Too much edge." He replied with a sparkle in his eye.

"Okay Miss scaredy pants, well we could go to mom's cafe and hang out for a bit" She suggested

"Oh Brooke, not enough edge." He laughed.

"Okay well I have one last idea and then I'm done and it'll then be your job to come up with an idea and we both know how much you love doing that" She stuck her tongue out at him when she saw him playfully roll his eyes. "So think long and hard before you reject this one Jagelski." She joked.

They stayed silent for a while until he said, "You gonna tell me your idea or make me tickle it out of you" He started tickling her sides.

"Stop stop" she laughed as she slapped his hand away, "Well we could go to the fair that's just outside of town" She saw the look on his face and laughed "Now now I promise I won't make you go on any rides, I'll just make you win me a ton of prizes"

"Okay…" he said hesitantly, knowing that Brooke would indeed try to coerce him into riding the ferris wheel.

"Stop being a baby… It'll be fun" She laughed and led the way to her car.

"Please Jake" Brooke begged.

"No"

"Please"

"No. You promised."

"I know but it's just the ferris wheel. I promise I won't let anything bad happen to you" She said as she tried to unsuccessfully pull him towards the ferris wheel line up.

"Where have I heard that before" He groaned referring to the time they got stuck on the rollercoaster for two hours, the situation that sparked his deathly fear for any carnival ride .

"Oh sush, this is different" She said as she handed their tickets to the carnie.

"Fine but you owe me" He said not being able to deny her anything. Three minutes after they had gotten on the ferris wheel he was shaking. Brooke looked at him and automatically felt bad. She knew he hated carnival rides and she made him come on one.

"Jake, Im so sorry. Let's try to take your mind off it" she said as he looked at her. "Tell me your favorite memory"

"I can't think of anything right now. Honestly my mind is just blank." He wasn't calming down. Brooke didn't know what to do she tried talking to him and getting him to talk to her or close his eyes and envision something else but nothing was working he just stared straight ahead shaking uncontrollably. She didn't know what else to do so she just leaned in and kissed him. And for a tenth of a second when their lips touched she felt an electric spark throughout her whole body and immediately jumped back a little and pulled away.

"Shit I'm sorry, I didn't know what else to do Jake." He just laughed, finally out of his trance.

"No Brooke it worked. Reminds me of a memory" He said laughing. Brooke groaned knowing exactly where this was going.

"9th grade, all your friends had been kissed… all but you. You came home crying because they were all making fun of you."

"Ugh Jake. That is not the kind of memory I was talking about" She laughed remembering it fondly and not so fondly at the same time. Her friends in high school were cruel which is one reason why she became as friendly as she was. They had said some pretty hurtful things about how inexperienced she was because she wanted to wait to have her first time, hell her first kiss with someone special. She went home and found Jake there alone. The boy had practically lived at her house, she ran in crying and through sobs tried to explain her whole situation without coming off as pathetic and after she was done she worried he would think she was just some big baby but he just softly and gently kissed her. She was shocked. And thrilled. All she ever wanted was for Jake to have the same feelings for her that she had her whole childhood but then he winked and told her that now they couldn't make fun of her and made his way to their back yard. That day she got all she ever wanted but her heart also broke and Jake didn't even know it.

"Yes, but it is one of my favorite memories" He said staring into her deep green eyes. She was shocked. He was giving her a glimpse into his mind. She usually had an easy time reading boys but it was always different with Jake. She never knew what to think. They both leaned into each other about to kiss again when the ride stopped and jolted them from their moment. The carnie let them off, the moment was immediately broken. Brooke checked her phone. 4:20. _Shit_she thought, I'm never gonna make it to Lily in time. She sent 20 messages to Lucas praying that he would get it and pick their little sister up.

23

The next month went by faster than Haley had anticipated. It was a week before the gala and Haley was stressed. Stressed. Stressed. Stressed. Everything was coming into place smoother than she anticipated but she was still quite anxious. Rachel had been living with her the past month and was actually a huge help. Rachel had also with the help of Peyton had gotten her to talk more about the break up with Chris. Haley felt like she was starting to get back to her old self.

She had everything all planned out for the gala which meant this next week all she had to do was set everything up and make sure everyone knew what to do and when to do it. She believed that everything would work out. She had to.

Her and Lily were finishing up some of the last preparations. Making sure that everything was in place so on monday they could just start setting up. Haley had always had high expectations of Lily but the young girl had surprised Haley with her work ethic and dedication. She had brought some delightful ideas forth and was a great leader for her class. Haley was impressed. She was thinking about asking Lily to be her teachers aid next semester. She was pulled out of her thoughts when she noticed her phone flashing._Holy shit_it was 5:30.

"Okay, I think we are just about done here. When are your parents going to be here to pick you up Lily?" She asked the young girl.

"Um one of my siblings is supposed to come at 4:30ish." Lily answered

"Oh, are you sure Lil? It's 5:30 right now" Haley asked.

"Yeah thats what my mom said this morning"

"Well it's 5:30…"Haley said and she saw the young girls face fall "so they probably just didn't get the message or-" She was cut off by Lily.

"No whoever was supposed to pick me up probably forgot about me. They love me, I know my family loves me but I'm somewhat invisible. It's what happens when you're the youngest...and especially when your closest sibling in age is 10 years older than you." Lily said. She didn't mean to tear up, it just kind of happened.

"Oh Lily" Haley said her heart breaking for the young girl she got up and walked around the desk and hugged Lily. At first Lily was apprehensive but after a couple seconds she wrapped her arms around her teacher and cried a little harder. When they pulled apart Haley smiled, not one of pity or sympathy but of understanding. "You know Lily. I'm the youngest in my family too. Not by 10 years like you but by 4; my family was quite hectic what with 7 older siblings. And as much as I knew that they loved- love- me I often felt the exact same way. I understand what you're going through Lily. You should talk to them. Tell them how you feel"

Lily looked up at her teacher. Miss James was unlike any other teacher she had ever had. Everyone always talked about how cool she was and the boys always talked about how hot she was but Miss James was different in Lily's opinion. She genuinely cared about her students. Each individual one.

"I can't" Lily said. She wouldn't be comfortable talking to her family about this. What would she say 'I know you're all busy but shut up and pay attention to me' Lily wasn't like that.

"Fair enough" Haley said. She knew it was best not to push the subject, it wasn't her place. "But if you ever need anything, to talk or anything, I'm here"

"Thanks Miss James" Lily smiled through her tears.

"Now, how about we go get some ice cream on our way to your house. After all your hard work I think you deserve it." Haley said. She didn't make it a habit to take her students out for ice cream but Lily was upset and she knew ice cream was the best remedy. And she had helped Haley more than anyone else.

"Sounds good" Lily smiled

Forty minutes later when Lily got home she stormed into the house and slammed the door. Her mother rushed to the living room to see what was wrong.

"What happened Lil? Where's Brooke?" Her mom asked. Okay so it was Brooke who was supposed to pick her up.

"So Brooke was supposed to pick me up?" She asked

"Yeah I asked her to this morning, she said it wouldn't be a problem."

"Well she didn't. She forgot about me. Big surprise there." Just then Brooke stormed into the house in a frenzy Jake close behind. Right away she ran up to Lily and hugged her.

"Please tell me Lucas went and got you. Please tell me he picked you up. Please don't be mad at me." Lily sighed. As angry as she was she couldn't be that angry, she knew Brooke would feel like shit. She tried to shrug her sister off. Brooke wouldn't budge.

"It's okay Brooke I'm fine, Miss James brought me home" Lily said.

"Oh, I am so sorry Lil. I was with Jake all day and then we went to the fair cause we had nothing better to do and then I checked my phone and I knew I wouldn't make it in time so I asked Lucas and apparently he didn't get my message. Please forgive me. I'll make it up to you I promise." It all came out in a rush.

"And what did you have in mind?" Lily asked her sister, if Brooke wanted to make it up to her she would milk it every chance she got.

"Okay well. The reason why I was so late coming here is because we ran over to my house so I could grab something. Just hold on a second" Brooke ran outside, Lily assumed to her car, and entered about three minutes later.

"Okay, so the gala is kind of a fancy occasion right?" Brooke asked. Lily nodded. "Well when you told us about it I kind of started making you a dress." Brooke opened the dress bag she brought in to reveal a gorgeous knee length soft pink lace dress, it had an elegant vintage feel to it and was exactly Lilys style. Lily was speechless. The dress was beautiful.

"So, by your expression I take it you like it?" Brooke asked.

Lily nodded, "Brooke, I love it"

"Okay well thats not all, I want to do a girls day before, when you have time of course, I know how much you have on your plate with this.. Please baby sister?"

"Well I probably can… I have to be there almost two hours early but until then I'm all yours" Lily grinned.

"Oh yay! Hair, nails, makeup.. The works!" Brooke said in her Brooke like fashion.

As Brooke was having her little excitement freak out about her and Lily's girls day. Dan Lucas and Nathan entered the house.

"So are we invited to this hair, nails, makeup thing?" Lucas joked teasing his sister.

Brooke rolled her eyes, "Well sure Luke, you're girly enough" Nathan snorted and patted his brothers shoulder as he walked past him and made his way into the dining room to sit at the table.

"So any progress in giving you a new saintly reputation" Brooke asked Nathan as she took a seat beside him, Jake beside her. Lily and Lucas were on the other side of the table.

"No, not really" Dan answered for Nathan, "Nathan has been doing a great job of keeping his personal life private, but thats not enough. The press doesn't report 'Nathan Scott stays home on a friday night' Neither of us are sure what to do." Dan said and he saw Nathan's face fall and he immediately felt horrible he loved his son no matter what and the last thing he wanted to do was offend or upset him. He quickly tried to recover. "Not to say that your mother and I aren't proud of you son, we are extremely proud. You are a good man and will make a fine president of Scotts Investment Banking-"

"But I have been acting like a boy for far too long" Nathan finished for his father. He had heard it countless amounts of times. But the truth was he wasn't a complete man-whore. He had just dated a lot. And in the NBA he partied a lot more than he was proud of. But he never crossed any horrible lines and he wasn't a complete ass hole. A cocky bastard yes but an ass for sport no.

"What if he got involved with some sort of charity. That could help a bit" Karen suggested ash she entered the dining room.

"That's not a bad idea babe" Dan got up and pulled the chair out for his wife.

"Oh, I know you can talk to people at the gala. There will be tons of opportunities Nate" Lily suggested promoting the gala. The thing was Miss James' baby and in turn it was hers as well. She had put a ton of time and effort into this gala. So much that she had exceeded her needed amount of volunteer hours that she needed to graduate.

Nathan smiled at Lily, "Thanks sis, I'll keep that in mind"

**Please review... **


	5. Chapter 5

**_You guys are so awesome! Sorry I have been MIA, I have been super bus with school. And I have a bit of writers block. Withn the next two chapters Nathan and Haley will meet I am just trying to figure out how I want it to happen. If you have any suggestions or anything you want to happen feel free to let me know. So here is chapter 4... Its a little rough but I hope you guys like it! _**

_Chapter 4_

The gala was in full swing and Haley was pleasantly surprised with how well everything was going. There had been a few close calls but Haley had been able to fix them before the problems got out of hand. All the families had been arriving and she was very happy to see all her students families arriving. She noticed Peyton and Rachel walking up to her, they had been such a great help with this whole event helping her plan and had so eagerly bought tickets and donated a significant amount of money to her cause.

"Wow Hales, this is awesome. You really outdid yourself" Peyton said as she walked up and gave her best friend a hug. "This is beautiful" There were christmas lights framing the community center and beautiful white lily flower displays as each centerplace on the tables and handmade hang down lights sprinkled all about. There was a dance floor by the stage that had the built in auditorium lights framing it. Peyton was impressed considering the lack of budget Haley had to work with. Somehow she made it look classy and elegant.

"You think? It's not too much?" She asked self consciously. She was really nervous.

"Absolutely." Rachel said with a smile. "I really don't know how you pulled this off at all"

"It was really a community and school effort. I don't think we would have been able if the community centre wouldn't have offered this space for free. We had way more people than we anticipated but tickets"

"Oh, don't be so modest Miss James" Principal Turner said walking up behind her, "None of this would have happened without you." Haley jumped a little startled and smiled at her boss.

"That is very kind of you to say Principal Turner but I really can't take all the credit." She said.

"Well, you can accept most of it. Now, I am sorry to interrupt but it's time to begin." He told her as Haley nodded at her friends and walked towards the stage with him. "Now I'll introduce you and you just go up there and do your thing."

"Okay" Principal walked onto the stage and asked everyone to take their seats and introduced Haley as the head coordinator for the whole event. Embarrassed, Haley walked up to the stage to give her speech.

23

Lily sat in her seat at her table with her family as she watched her teacher take the stage. Most of her other classmates were helping with serving or cooking or something but she knew she would have a special job and a speech to make right away which she had not told her family about. She almost broke down and told Brooke this afternoon on their girls day but didn't want to ruin the surprise. Plus she knew that Brooke had a big mouth.

As Miss James took the stage she looked around at her whole family and the other people at her table to see that their eyes were glued to her.

"Welcome everyone, I am glad you all could make it. As Principal Turner just announced my name is Haley James and I just want to lay out how this evening is going to look and give out some well deserved thank you's." Miss James paused for a second.

"Tonight is going to have a dinner, a silent auction and entertainment/ a dance. The dinner will be served to you by our students and the silent auction will be in the rec room down the hall and will begin at 7:00 and end at 9:00. Our entertainment will be from performances by some very talented students and will end around 9:00 as well. And then we will move into out dance portion of the evening which is for both the parents and the students. Our students, your children have been working so hard to get this ready for tonight. They are cooking, serving, working in the parking lot, coat checking, they helped decorate and are helping with cleanup. They have been working incredibly hard behind the scenes." She paused as everyone clapped. "As well as our faculty, everyone on staff has been so great, taking charge of an area and just spending countless hours working to make it perfect. I also want to thank the local businesses, everyone who donated food, prizes for our auction, and time. It just means so much and this would not have been able to happen without each and every one of you. And lastly I would like to thank all of you for allowing your children to participate and spend so much time helping out and also for being here because if it wasn't for you, the family and friends and in general Tree Hill's community we would not be here to night" She paused and heard faint clapping. Haley smiled.

"Yes, give yourselves a hand" Miss James said encouragingly.

It wasn't until things died down until Miss James spoke again. "Now, this year things are going to be a little bit different, the student body and faculty has talked it over and took a vote as to whether this idea should take place or not and I think that we have a very special surprise in place. As much I would love to explain it I think it is only fair and appropriate that one of the students that helped come up with this very unique and special idea forth come up here and explain it. Please give a warm welcome to Lily Scott." Her whole family started at her in shock as she stood up and made her way to the stage. When she got up Miss James hugged her and took a step back so Lily could speak.

"Like Miss James said I am only one student involved in this idea, it was coined by our entire homeroom class. I was just the one chosen to speak." There were smiles all around when she said that. Lily looked over at her family again. They were still in shock. "So this year we as a student body wanted to do something a little bit different. We took a vote as to which charity we would most like to donate our proceeds to but we as a student body didn't feel as though that was completely fair. So the percentage of votes that each charity got that is the amount of out total amount that we will donate to each charity. So on behalf of the student body we would like to thank our teachers for giving us this special opportunity"

When Lily got back to her seat Haley had already announced that dinner would be served within 5 minutes. Her family and the other people at their table just stared at her.

"So dinner is going to be chicken which is my favorite" She said just to break the silence. Granted it was a good silence but silence nonetheless.

"When were you going to tell us that you were giving a speech and came up with that awesome idea" Brooke exclaimed

"Um well I wasn't, that was kind of the point" Lily joked. "But it wasn't just me who came up with the idea it was our class"

"Why weren't you going to tell us sweetie?" Karen asked her.

"I just wanted it to be a surprise" And that was true. She did want it to be a surprise but she also felt like her family got bored talking about the gala.

"Well we are very proud of you pumpkin" Dan said using her childhood nickname. Lily groaned. Brooke was always cookie and Lily pumpkin Lucas and Nathan were lucky because they were always just called Luke and Nate it was because they were the oldest…. and male. To say she was jealous about that was an understatement.

"Thanks daddy" She smiled.

"So change of topic, this is quite an event Lil. I must say the school really outdid their-self" Lucas said more impressed than he thought he would be. When he heard about this gala he didn't know how it would pan out but hoped for the best now he see he didn't even need to hope for the best the school really outdid itself.

Lily smiled and before Lily could respond Haley walked up and responded, "It was really a community effort truth is if Tree Hill wasn't so supportive we would not be hosting this night." She looked at Lily and then at her family something was vaguely familiar about the blonde man beside her and the young brunette girl before she could place them the brunette girl spoke.

"Oh my gosh! You're cute airport girl!" Brooke exclaimed punching Lucas' arm. Immediately Haley remembered and blushed both at the story and at being called 'cute airport girl'.

"Oh right" She smiled at them "Thank you for your help again" She said politely to Lucas.

"Help?" Lily asked.

"Oh it was so funny, her friend fell asleep when we went to pick Jake up and Luke helped them out by carrying her to her car."

"It was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life" Haley smiled "Lily, why don't you introduce to your family?" Trying to get the focus somewhat off of her.

"Yeah of course, this is my mom and dad, Karen and Dan. My brother Lucas and sister Brooke and Jake my other brother's best friend. Nathan my other brother seems to have run off somewhere" she introduced them all.

"Well it is very nice to meet you all. Lily is a great girl" Haley gushed. "Do you mind if I steal her away for a few minutes?" Haley asked.

"It's not a problem" Dan smiled at his daughters teacher. When they left Brooke turned to her brother and smacked his arm.

"Hey! What was that for?" He exclaimed.

"She is perfect for you. And you didn't flirt with her at all you just sat there like the toad you are. Be prince charming dammit!" Karen, Dan and Jake laughed, Nathan walked up and took his spot on the other side of Brooke.

"What's this about?" He asked.

"Lucas is an idiot." she exclaimed.

"Not gonna argue with you there. But what did he do this time?" Nathan asked. Brooke rolled her eyes and Lucas pouted a little bit.

"Haley, our sisters teacher, is cute airport girl!"

"Really Brooke again with this?"

"Yes, I love her and decided I want her as another sister and so one of you two has to date her and it sure as hell is not going to be you" She said pointing at Nathan.

"Hey! What's wrong with me?" He said in mock offence.

"Well my dear sweet brother, you are a man-whore and she seems to be sweet and wholesome. All around too good for you." Brooke said jokingly

"I could do wholesome. Maybe wholesome is what I need to turn my reputation around." Nathan said just to keep up the friendly banter with Brooke. He was mostly joking.

"That's it Nate" Dan said the only people left at the table were their family.

"What's it?" Nathan said confused.

"I know exactly how to turn your reputation around." Nathan groaned. He knew exactly what his father was thinking and he did not like it.

"No Dad, I am not dating Lily's teacher."

"It doesn't have to be Lily's teacher per se just someone pure and wholesome. And it doesn't even have to be real."

"I don't like this idea Dad" Nathan said apprehensively. "I don't want to trick some girl into dating me"

"We would tell them the truth Nate. Maybe just hire someone." Dan knew it was sleazy but he was desperate for his son to take ove.

"You are crazy. Tell him he is crazy" Nathan Looked at his family for backup.

"Well like I get what you're both saying but I do think it would work as long as you were up front with whoever you chose" Lucas said apprehensively.

"Yeah, it could either be terribly good or bad" Jake agreed.

"Nothing changes a man like the love of a good woman. The press would eat it right up" Karen said, it was unconventional and dirty but she believed it would work and work quickly.

"Why don't you ask Haley to do it! Then we could become best friends!" Brooke suggested selfishly. There was something about Haley James that she liked. The woman just seemed all around good and Brooke wasn't use to that but liked it.

"Brooke what is with you and this girl?" Jake joked.

"She just has a very genuine aura about her that I like and I'm sick of you boys I want a friend that's a girl." It was true. She felt like all her friends were boys and she wanted a girl friend. She felt like Haley could be that person. "You should do it Nate!"

Nathan rolled his eyes at his family. There was no way he was doing this, it was completely insane and he sure as hell wasn't going to ask his little sisters teacher. "You guys are crazy and I am not doing this."


End file.
